UZBEKISTAN / TAJIKISTAN / KHYRGYZSTAN
ROUTE from samarcande to duchambe:
- leaving samarcande along registan road toward east, always straight on towards
tadjik border after 40km.
- no trouble except that uzbek want to see all
receipt for money but no registration papers are asked
- bad road till khojan
road, cross road, up and down quite slow
- food in ayni, no water problem
till duchambe
- pass starts at about 2300 for 15 km step on dirt road till
3200m, then down till duchambe with really good road in the end
- duchambe malohat band b close
- find some help in "bactria cultural center" with
friendly people (you can buy a really expensive but good map for GBAO, it's
useful for water points)
- acted GH: 10 dollars, nothing cheaper, acted is
the street in front of the theatre (rajabov) then dead end on the right after
the second crossroad
- great game company, they arrange gbao (but
then stole me money on my credit card!), difficult to find the office behind
varzob bazar
VISA:
- visa extension impossible without agency. they said it
cost 45 dollard for a week and 50 for two with minimum 3 days delay
- china visa very easy: 50 dollars for 90 days, 2 days delay,
china embassy on rudaky, 30 dollars for one week waiting
MONEY: exchange rate in duchambe 1 dollars = 3.3 tjk
1 euro =
4.14
- don t buy the cheap tuna-fish in black and yellow box, it's
impossible to eat!
- no bike shops around
TRANSPORT: bus 1 and 8 are useful to
move on rudaki
ROUTE from duchambe to och via pamir:
- easy to get out of duchambe via ayni street,
then flat good road for 20 km aprox till a roundabout where you
turn left for the northern road to khorog
- then roadquality is
so so sometime, but they are working on it
- the further you are,
the worse it is: up and down till the base of the pass with one
cp at the cross road with the direct road to khirghistan (the boarder
is closed for foreigners, info from a japanese cycler who tried
and had to pay 100 dollars to pass)
- the end is asphalt
- on cp before pass after a cross-road with
a bridge for khorog: no problem
- the pass is not really steep
on good asphalt road and leads down to a nice gorge to reach kalaikim
(on check post before it and in it)
- some shops there and good
water
- road to khorog is quite good. more traffic, easy cycling
- khorog
bazar not too bad but don't expect much - some pasta 1.7/kg, snickers
1.5, tea...
- internet is very slow but the last one before och
- road to ishkashim
is easy cycling and good
- ishakashim: only time our GBAO have
been asked!, bazar and food
- flat road, mainly asphalt till langard,
shops on the way (zong better than langar)
- at the end of langar,
left on the cross road: be ready for a really steep climb on sandy
road = push
- there are many water points on the way, don't carry
any from langar
- the first 15km took us 4 hours
- then easier cycling: sandy road
but not really steep
- before the pass: check post, no problem
- pass really easy, water
just before (close to a farm selling milk)
- down to the main road
of pamir high way: some part really bad parts of the road, less
water, some corrugation on the last flat km before the main road
- main road = asphalt: perfect till murgab, the pass on the map
is not a pass, tail wind, very easy
- one cp before murgab
- after bridge in murgab: eli hot springs
(40 km): nice place for relaxing and avoiding dusty murgab
à use
the hot water for bathing and washing (5h cycling, mainly flat
except in the end)
murgab
theoretically a registration is required,
15 dollars / 24 somoni plus ecologic tax = one dollar a day
we
paid nothing, just don't go there and don't stay long in murgab.
they asked nothing after murgab and at the border à avoid
staying a long time if you're not registrated
BAZAR: is really poor but there is petrol (bad 2.8 somoni) and
basic food (snickers!) they sell some vegetables, home made in
big glasses container = great with pasta (45 som), rice 5 somoni,
pasta 1.9
HOTEL: hotel murgab, 5 som correct
ROUTE from murgab to och:
- 60 km flat, up, head wind, then 5 km steep for the 4600m pass with asphalt
- some bad road with corrugation for karakol but mainly OK
- home stay in
karakol, not really good according to other cyclers who stayed there
- chinese
border is closed to foreigners (2 american cyclers tried in vain and they
even spoke chinese)
- the pass after karakol is easy but some steep sections
- check post after
the pass, no problem
- other side of the pass road is so so till the border,
glue asphalt and then no asphalt and corrugation and head wind
- take care:
only few water points there, one river far away from the road and bad water
if no filter (we didn't have one)
- small climb to the border, no problem,
then 2 km up to the pass and khirghistan
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